Sebalter | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Sebalter (2014) | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Sebastiano Paù-Lessi[1] (1985-07-01)1 July 1985 (age 40) |
| Genres | Pop folk |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, fiddle player, songwriter, attorney |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Labels | Phonag Records |
Sebastiano Paù-Lessi, (born 1 July 1985) better known by his stage nameSebalter (stylisedSEBalter) is aSwiss singer,fiddler, and attorney who represented his country at theEurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He performed the song "Hunter of Stars" in the final on 10 May 2014, finishing 13th with 64 points.[2] Sebalter was born in the Italian-speaking canton ofTicino. Prior to Eurovision he worked as a business lawyer, putting his law career on hold to focus on his music career.[3]
From 2000 to 2002, Sebalter played bass in a Swiss hard rock band called The Stalkers, who specialised in covers of early '70s groups, such asUriah Heep,Deep Purple andLed Zeppelin. From 2002 to 2012, Sebalter played thefiddle in a Swissfolk rock bandThe Vad Vuc, where he released three albums with the band and toured extensively. He left the band in 2012 to pursue a solo career.[4] In 2005, while he was studying at university, Sebastiano co-presented the youth television seriesLe vostre vacanze (Your Holiday) on Swiss channelTSI and two New Year specials in 2006 and 2007.[5]
In November 2013, "Hunter of Stars" was announced as one of the three entries from Italian Swiss broadcasterRSI for the Swiss national selection. Later in the month the song passed the Expert Check stage, progressing to the national final. In December the song was released as a single. Sebalter and his band performed "Hunter of Stars" on the national final showDie Große Entscheidungsshow on 1 February, winning the selection. At theEurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen,Denmark, he performed "Hunter of Stars" during the second semi-final on 8 May 2014 and qualified for the grand final on 10 May 2014. He finished 13th with 64 points,Switzerland's best result since 2005. In July 2014 he released the single "Saturday". In January 2015 he released his debut studio albumDay of Glory, which includes the singles "Hunter of Stars" and "Saturday". The album peaked at number 9 on theSwiss Albums Chart. In 2015, he retired from music to continue working as a lawyer.[6] Despite his intentions and announcements, he still tours around Switzerland and Italy with guitarist Mattia Bordignon and banjo player Rocco Casella.
He presented the Swiss jury vote during the final of theEurovision Song Contest 2016 in Stockholm. His second studio album, entitledAwakening, was released on 20 January 2017. In 2017, he performed his song "Weeping Willow" onESC 2017 – Die Entscheidungsshow. He has been a commentator during the grand final for the Swiss-Italian broadcaster RSI along with Clarissa Tami since the2017 contest.
In 2018, it was announced that Sebalter would be making an attempt to return to Eurovision, competing for the chance to representSwitzerland inthe 2019 contest with the song, "Carry the Light". In 2019, SRF revealed that they had chosenLuca Hänni as their representative.
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWI [7] | |||||||||||||||||||
| Day of Glory |
| 9 | |||||||||||||||||
| Awakening |
| 9 | |||||||||||||||||
| Gente simpatica |
| — | |||||||||||||||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWI [7] | AUT [8] | GER [9] | IRE [10] | NL [11] | UK [12] | ||||||||||||||
| "Hunter of Stars" | 2013 | 6 | 48 | 77 | 49 | 98 | 85 | Day of Glory | |||||||||||
| "Saturday" | 2014 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| "Weeping Willow" | 2017 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Awakening | |||||||||||
| "Gente simpatica" | 2020 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Gente simpatica | |||||||||||
| "La Fine dell'Estate" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Takasa with "You and Me" | Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 | Succeeded by Mélanie René with "Time to Shine" |
| National | |
|---|---|
| Artists | |
